Dr Ann Swinfen – 1937 – 2018

It is with deepest regret that I have to tell her many readers that my dear wife Ann passed away quite suddenly at home on the morning of Saturday the 4th of August. Now there will be no more wonderful stories of Christoval Alvarez, or Nicholas and Emma. I have decided, however, to keep this website open for the foreseeable future, so that new readers will continue to have access to her compelling novels.

David Swinfen

Comments

I am so sorry for your loss. I appreciate your letting her fans know in such a kind manner. You are in my thoughts and prayers. She will be greatly missed. I loved her stories and her newsletter with all the information about medieval life. So very sad…

I am so sorry for your loss. Ann will be greatly missed by all who read her books, I loved them and will miss new ones coming out. I will also miss her blogs talking through her research of the mediaeval period!
My thoughts and prayers with you in this very sad time..

Dear David,
I am so very sorry for your loss. I will miss her witty and wonderful novels, which I love very much. Her books gave me strength and hope. My deepest thoughts are with you and your family.
Sincerely,
Karine

So sorry to hear this, my thoughts are with you and your family.
Ann’s novels have given such pleasure to us all over the years, also her newsletters, so informative and so interesting. She has shared so much with so many.
Bless you for your kindness in letting us all know in this kind way.

David: I’m so very sorry for your loss. I loved her books, her blogs and her care of her readers. She informed me of so much of the time I loved to read about. I was always anxious for her next book and awaiting the TV version. So sad.

Dear David, to read yor sad news was a shock to us. We’ll remember Ann – and you – with great sympathy and wish you the strength and courage to carry on without your beloved Ann.
Kindest regards,
Annette and Len de Klerk
Kaatsheuvel, The Netherlands

I’m so very sorry to hear of Ann’s passing. She touched a lot of people through her wonderful work, and that will continue to be appreciated far into the future. She was a great communicator and gave freely of her talent to others. Peace to you at this difficult time.

So very sorry to hear this, what a dreadful shock for you. Thank you for thinking of us, the readers of those lovely books, it is sad to think we cannot look forward to more of her lovely writing. I send my condolences to you and your family.

My thoughts are with you in this difficult time. I am heartbroken as well. Ann added so much to our lives with her wonderful characters and books. She opened a world most of us only had vague knowledge of. She will be deeply missed.

David, I know we do not know each other obviously, but first of all, I am so deeply, deeply sorry for your loss. It is a profound loss, and I know it is incalculable. I am praying specifically for you David, that you will find palpable peace and comfort in the arms of Jesus.

Secondly, I am an avid reader, but Ann is perhaps my most favorite and beloved author I have ever read. I feel a great personal loss, as I not only enjoyed her books immensely, but I greatly appreciated her very keen mind and abilities. She was an incredibly gifted and skillful woman well beyond writing. You of course know this much better than me.

There are no words of human comfort, but it is besides an obvious loss to you and your family and friends, a tremendous loss the the historical fiction community. She was a rarified author.

y heart is sad with your loss. She was an amazing author. But I can imagine she was an even more an amazing wife. I enjoyed seeing her posts. My prayers are with you and your family for comfort and encouragement and strength.

I am shocked and grieving for your loss of Ann. I cannot imagine your pain in her passing. Sending prayers for courage and strength and healing. Ann has been and will continue to be a blessing for all of us.

This may sound strange, but I feel as if Christoval and Nicholas and Emma have also died suddenly, before their lives played out fully. I will cherish what I know of them and mourn their leaving us. And at some point in the afterlife, will meet Ann over a cup of tea — or something stronger — and beg her to tell us the rest of the story.

Thank you, David, for letting us know of your great loss. It is ours, too, in a lesser way. Our hearts go out to you and your family.
Not to be able to look forward to more of Ann’s books is greatly saddening.

This is heartbreaking news and I know her loss to you is immense. And there are many of us who have enjoyed every book she has written and feel that we know her through them. We will feel the loss of her great talent keenly.

David, my heart is breaking for you and your family. Ann was my favorite author. My ancestry is 97% British Isles, and as I read Ann’s books, I imagined my ancestors living along side with her characters.

Ann and I became friends on social media and had some lovely conversations. I was even able to help her a tiny bit when she was researching dog breeds used in the medieval time period, as I have a dog from an ancient breed.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful wife with us. I will miss her and her characters so very much.

I’m so saddened by the loss of such a wonderful person and writer. Ann’s books have delighted me and so many others. I will so miss the continuing adventures of Cristovel and Nicholas and Emma. Even though there will be no more stories from your extremely talented wife I will take great joy and pleasure in re-reading what Ann has left to myself and the world.

So sorry to learn of Anne’s sad passing away, and so suddenly too. I was a great fan of Anne’s novels. We used to correspond since the YWO group membership days and she was a great supporter of my writings. She will be missed by a huge number of writers and her followers. RIP Anne.

David, she is a monumental loss. Not just to her family but to literature. She has always written what I term ‘elegant’ fiction. Her attention to detail was first class. But she sits with the greats now – I can see she and Dorothy Dunnett having inspired conversations.
I shall miss swapping garden produce recipes and discussing craftwork. Kindest regards.

Dear David, I was very shocked and saddened to hear the news. Ann was a lovely lady and not only a brilliant writer but also very generous with the time and encouragement she gave to others. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. With deepest sympathy, Harriet

Dear David
How incredibly sad. She made the world such a better place. I will miss her, her characters her emails about medieval life everything. Her writing was unbelievably good and transported us to the times so easily. Very very sad.

Dear David,
I am so very sorry for your loss. Thank you for letting all Ann’s devoted friends know of her death. She will be greatly missed; I always learned several things from Ann’s books. My condolences to you and your family.

I am deeply sorry to hear your sudden and very sad news. Ann had many devoted fans and I cherished reading each one of her compelling stories. Thank you for letting us know and share at a distance some of your grief.

What a shock to read this sad news. My prayers for comfort and sincere sympathy to you and your family. Ann’s books have been such a joy and gift yo me. I will deeply miss the ongoing adventures of Cristoval, Nicholas & Emma. Now we will never know how their stories end.

I got introduced to ann’s Books last year and I have read them all. I enjoyed the Oxford medieval series enormously and I sent an email to Ann asking if there was going to be follow up to the troubadours tale and she kindly replied that she was working on a follow up. I was so excited! I am very sorry to hear the news about ann’s Passing and my heartfelt condolences to the family.

David, sending you and your family my sympathy and prayers on the death of Ann. I have read nearly all of her books in recent years but only recently been reading and contributing to her posts – so thoroughly researched and kindly shared with her readers. My knowledge and enjoyment of reading has been wonderfully enriched by reading her books.

Having onlyvery recently registered on this site, it was with great shock that I read ofAnn’s death. My sincere condolences to you on this sad event. I especially will miss the story of Nicholas and Emmahaving just finished The Stonemasons tale.

Sincere condolences to you and all of Ann’s family on your loss. I have been encouraged and enamoured of her blogs and only just was able to begin on her wonderful stories. A talented lady and a loss to her many readers and fans. Thank you for keeping the site open so our enjoyment of her work may continue.

Wishing peace and loving remembrance to all Dr. Swinfen’s near and dear ones. I was new to her literary world, and so enjoyed these newsletters! Thank you for letting us know, so kindly and thoughtfully.

Dear Dr. Swinfen, I have been a fan of your wife’s for years. I regret that her very special voice is silenced. She made a wonderful contribution to the world of Historical Fiction. My prayers are for you and your family.

I only started reading Dr. Swinfin’s work about 2-3 weeks ago when it was recommended to me on Amazon based on my other reads. I swiftly became immersed in her story of Nicholas Elyot and the vivid pictures she painted of town, countryside, people… well, everything. A storyteller and a historian who will be greatly missed by those who have read her works. I have just the Stonemason’s Tale to go and I will treasure it all the more. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

i am so sorry to hear of your loss. I have been reading ann’sbooks on kindle for the last two months. I have found her writing both informative and exciting, I have not finished reading all the Christoval series, but will continue, sadly knowing there will be no more. Love from an elderly reader.

David, such devastating news for her many fans – a writer with such talent all who read her works were thrilled, absorbed and impatiently waiting the next ‘instalment’.
Bless you for the considerate way you have informed us.
My prayers and thoughts are with you all at this sad, sad time

Please accept my condolences. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you go through this difficult time.

As so many have said, Ann’s novels have given me hours of pleasure reading not only the story but her impeccable, knowledgeable writing. She had a way of turning simple words into a thing of beauty. Her novels were entertaining and enlightening especially those of use of Portuguese descent.
Thank you so much for sharing her with us.

Please accept my sincerest condolences for your loss.
Dr. Swinfen’s books gave me enormous pleasure. Not only were they meticulously researched but the characters were beautifully drawn. Ann Swinfen had the grace to reply to my email and it is obvious that she combined a true scholar’s humility with erudition and a kindness toward her readers. I will miss her.

I am so very to hear of Ann’s demise. I enjoyed her books so much and was looking forward to further tales of Nicholas and Emma. I would love to have been able to visit that bookshop.
Ann’s characters were so much alive for me.

David, my condolences to you and your family. I had only recently discovered Ann’s work and am still enjoying exploring the worlds that she created. The level of detail is fascinating and the story telling gripping but it is the characters, both major and minor, that I really enjoy getting to know. I am sure that Ann’s books will continue to delight readers for many years to come.

My deepest condolences to you and your family. I only recently discovered Dr. Swinfen’s books and I read through 5 of them this summer. What a loss to the literary world. We have this consolation – her books will remain, and this part of her spirit survives. All the best to you and yours in this time of transitions and sadness.

Dear David, I am so very sorry for your loss…and ours. Thank you so much for thinking of us in this sad time. I loved the love and interest with which she covered her subjects. Her enthusiasm for life must live on in those of us left behind, as a tribute to a wonderful author and person.

I am so deeply sorry for your loss, and mourn our own, as well. I only discovered Ann’s books within the past year, and found myself immersed in Nicholas’, Emma’s and Christoval’s worlds, scarcely wanting to leave them as each book ended. She was a gifted, gifted writer and story teller, who will be greatly missed.

After finishing reading The Stonemason’s Tale I decidea to check the blog. This was the last I expected.
I’m so sorry about your loss. I truly enjoyed reading your eife’s books.
The stories she told were so full of lifeatures and had such an authenticity that few historic writers reach.
I’m thankful for the many books I was able to enjoy. But would have loved to find out whether or not Master Nicholas would get to marry his lady Emma…

I am so very sorry for your loss. I recently discovered her books. Her kindness, her gifts as a storyteller, her respect for the times her novels were placed in came through so strongly. She will be missed. Deepest condolences to all who knew her.

Thank you, David. I am so very sorry for your loss. I appreciate your kindness in letting her fans know. You are in my thoughts and prayers. She will be truly missed. I loved getting transported back to that day and age through her stories and and will miss her kind answers to my doubts and queries; her newsletter with all the information about medieval life. A great loss!

David,
My wife and I offer our sincerest condolences to you and your family on your loss, though words alone cannot alleviate the grief you must feel.
We came late to Ann’s Medieval Oxford mystery series and have been happily living in 14th century Oxford these past several weeks. Now comes this sad news. Were some future installments underway? Will we ever learn what’s next for Meg and Peter…and Nicholas and Emma?

David
Our thoughts and prayers go with you. My wife and I both love the Medieval tales and made the sad discovery only this morning of Ann’s death. As I finished the Stonemason’s Tale with so much detail and ongoing deepening of character I went to the website so only discovered of your sad loss. I’ll have to imagine how Nicolas’s business continued to grow, what became of his children and if he succeeded in marrying Emma. Wonderful stories from who I am sure was a wonderful person.

I am so terribly sorry for this deep loss to you and your family. I loved your wife’s books and ordered The Stonemason’s tail the day it was released. She brought me lots of happiness through the words of Kit and Nicolaus

I am so sorry for the loss of Ann Swinfen, to you and your family and all of us who loved her writing. Thank you for leaving the website up. I will go back and reread her blog postings. They gave me a wonderful look at so many things : places she visited, how she went about her writing and publishing, her many other talents (the delightful toys and clothes especially), and the books she enjoyed. I am grateful to Amazon.com and its “you may also enjoy” feature which connected this amateur medievalist to one of the greatest.

I am so very saddened by this news and my condolences to out to you and to your famiy. I fell in love with the Oxford mysteries with the very first one, and looked eagerly forward to each new one. Ann will be greatly missed.

I know this is still early days, but one day it would be lovely to get a conclusion to Christoval Alvarez. I know it was originally written as one book and maybe that could be printed, or another writer who could mimic her style could write the ending, as has been done in the past for other authors.

I am a new reader this year and galloped my way through Ann’s historical series,becoming more and more impressed by the depth of her research and the quality and empathy of her writing.

I came to the website just now to see if there were any more books on the way to find your notice at the head of the blog. I am deeply shocked and saddened; I feel as if I have lost someone I know well.

My deepest sympathies to you and thank you for keeping the blog open. Exploring it will be both poignant and worthwhile.

Deepest condolences on the passing of your dear wife. I have only recently discovered her books and couldn’t put them down. What a gifted woman but also one who put much effort into her research. Her work is much appreciated. Now I will never know what happened to Christoval as he got older! God bless you. Alison

I just discovered Ann’s books earlier this year, and her blog only yesterday. To see the news that she has passed is so heartbreaking. Not only were her books and research top-notch, but her attentiveness to her readers in the blog was impressive. With an obvious full schedule, she took the time to respond to so many of the comments. I’m so sorry for the loss to her family, as well as to her many followers and admirers.

I am so sorry for your heartbreaking loss. I only recently found Ann’s books through her Civil War novel about my ancestor John Swynfen (my 9 x great grandfather) and his family. Remembering you and your family in my prayers.

My family and I send our deepest condolences to you for your loss. My husband, son, and I have become great admirers of your wife’s books and have just finished the last Bookseller. I only learned of your loss when I came to the site happily looking for any other upcoming books. Thank you for letting all her readers know.
With sadness and affection,
The Dawson family

I am so terribly sorry to hear of Ann’s untimely passing. I read every one of her books and even corresponded with her several times over the course of the past year. She had a wonderful sense of history and place, and I enjoyed getting to know so many of her characters like friends. I feel privileged to have been afforded a glimpse into the mind and heart of an incredibly intelligent and creative person. May light perpetual shine upon her.

I only fairly recently became an avid consumer of Ann’s books, particularly the Nicolas Elyot and Christoph Alvarez series.

The latter has given me a new found passion for the history of London – I trace the locations of the London-bound plots whenever I am there!

The former had me wishing that Ann and author Mel Starr could have collaborated on their Oxford-area mysteries – my dream was to persuade them to somehow get Nicolas Elyot to be Hugh Singleton’s father in law, the time lines, locations, and occupations being so perfectly matched!

Oh! I am so sorry for your loss. Passing away suddenly has to be the most cruel for family and friends left behind.

It is mine as well in a much smaller way. I have just recently discovered Ann’s writing and she quickly became my favourite author of historical fiction. An amazingly talented writer and bard. I shall indeed miss her stories.

I just completed “The Stonemason’s Tale” within the hour, and logged in to see when we might expect the next Nicholas Elyot adventure. I am deeply saddened to read of Dr. Swinfen’s passing. She was a brilliant storyteller, and I will miss reading the exploits of her vividly portrayed characters.

Please accept my sincere sympathy for your loss. She had a great, original and kind voice as an author, and I can only imagine (never having met her) how that translated into how she lived her life.

Dr. Swinson chose as her original ground for her first series of books that most difficult of all times in Western history, the just-post Great Death era of England. The stunning kindness with which she scribed her characters — with their sense of loss, the stunning sense of a world changing and, most of all, the cleansing purity of Christian faith — leaves me in awe.

I have just finished the most recent of her books and looked up this website in order to congratulate her for her books. I am so sorry that I was not able to write to her earlier.

I will, of course, pray for her soul and remember her with great regard. It is my hope that Oxford University will say a High Mass in her college in her honor.

I cannot, of course, make up for your loss, but I hope that the thought that so many of us thought so highly of her will give you some comfort.